A controversy has continued to rage in this country and abroad for a number of years over how best to provide a safe and effective restraint system for automotive vehicle passengers. Lap belts having adjustable release buckles and, more recently, shoulder and chest restraints having release buckles are the most widely employed devices furnished by automobile manufacturers. In spite of much advertising and urgings by safety officials, comparatively few people utilize these existing restraints because of the inconvenience of applying them to the body, adjusting and releasing the restraint upon exiting the vehicle. There is also objection to lap and shoulder belts based on disturbing and sometimes damaging the clothing of the user. More importantly, many people have resisted the use of conventional restraints out of fear of being trapped in the vehicle by them following a crash, as where the occupant is rendered unconscious or partly conscious.
In an effort to deal with the problem, many other passive and active restraint systems have been proposed in the prior art including inflatable air bags and bar devices which move automatically to restraining positions when the occupant seats himself in the vehicle. These more sophisticated systems generally have been rejected because of excessive cost of manufacturing and installation, and because of public resistance to the unknown. Because of all of these factors, the basic problem of providing an adequate and safe restraint and one which will meet with public acceptance and universal usage remains unsolved. Accordingly, the objective of this invention is to offer a very simple and economical solution to the problem through the provision of an individual passenger restraint which can be permanently or temporarily attached to a vehicle seat back at the proper elevation to enable the passenger to slip into the restraint when seating himself or herself and to slip out of it when leaving the vehicle without manipulating any buckle or other hardware, without subjecting the passenger to inconvenience and without disturbing the clothing. The restraint, according to the invention, is comfortable, effective and fits all sizes of adults and larger children without the need for basic adjustment on the seat back.
All of the above is accomplished in the invention through provision on the seat back at opposite sides thereof of a pair of arm receiving restraint loops which engage the shoulders of the seat occupant to restrain forward movement and/or side movement in a sudden stop or collision. The user of the restraint system slips his or her arms into and out of the provided loops at the time of seating or exiting the vehicle without using the hands, much in the manner that one slips into or out of a jacket which is being supported by another person.
The invention possesses other features which will become apparent to those skilled in the art during the course of the following detailed description .